Live music in SF/Oakland, and maybe elsewhere...
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2010-11-29

For your listening pleasure, here's Eddy Current Suppression Ring live at Serra Bowl, at an free all ages show back at the start of July.

taper: thehappyone, using Sonic Studios DSM-6/Ls > Edirol R-09HR

setlist: Get Up Morning / Memory Lane / Isn't It Nice / Sunday's Coming / Tuning Out / You Let Me Be Honest With You / Wrapped Up / Precious Rose / Walked Into A Corner / I Admit My Faults / Which Way To Go [total 42:38]

My stream-of consciousness notes made shortly afterwards...

Outstanding quality, only marred by someone (who was also at the Eagles show) talking through 'I Admit My Faults', as well as some of yours truly whooping and a bit of stereo field shifting for when Brendan walked out into the audience. Some more video, including 'Get Up Morning', 'Memory Lane', and 'Sunday Coming', can be viewed here.

NOTE: I'm aware that some of the linked photos are broken, I'll be working on getting these back online...somehow...

Petey of TOS (credit: ESCR)

First of all, you have to understand that we're in a bowling alley. With people bowling. I have memories of the place when I was 11 or 12 accompanying my mom back when she was in a bowling league, and sitting working out chess games while pins fell. That this show could even be booked in such a venue by John Dwyer (Thee Oh Sees) just staggers my imagination. Just fucking amazing. Somebody else in blog-land had commented about the rhythm section of this group, with 'I Admit My Faults' bring shivers up their spine. No kidding...And if 'Wrapped Up' and 'Which Way To Go' aren't up there in the best things to come out in the last 10 years, I'll eat my shorts. Being able to see them up close must

Sic Alps performing

have been the same feeling Aussies had when seeing The Saints around the corner at one of their hotels or Brits being able to see an early Joy Division at the local youth club. Just intense.

I'm in this pic (credit: ESCR)

And as amazing is this was, what was to come once Thee Oh Sees took the stage was on a level beyond...oh my God, I'm still in awe at what I witnessed. It was probably the most enjoyable performance I've ever seen in my life, for the sheer positive energy this band seems to engender. If you're wondering, my recording fell apart after the first song (the pit dislodged my batteries), but I'll share what I got, as I hopefully have a contact with somebody else taping, but not sure if he managed to get the whole thing (Ed. note, he didn't, sadly).

Brigid close up

Warm Slime (Summertime Jam) was featured as the lead article on the Bay Bridged site that did a great job in dissecting the song...it also mentioned that they were recorded by John Baccigaluppi who of course recorded the Vomit Launch albums....

So, this gives us the following fragmentary documentary sources...we have this setlist because I had the foresight to call bcingyou and let him listen to it.

I also managed to record Fresh & Onlys earlier, with both older kids in tow, since I had the bright idea that they might want to catch an all-ages event like this, which ended up being somewhat of a failed experiment, sadly. Unfortunately, the vocals were almost inaudible during the mix, but the recording's otherwise decent. The sound greatly improved for the other sets.

2010-11-23

Catchy "lo-fi" garage-y rock. Like like like like like like like. While some wonder why the Intelligence's pop ditties aren't more popular, some have a greedy desire to see them remain underground, so they remain all yours. The paradox of Indie, I guess. I'm not going to go there. This is not Pitchfork. I had a blast, and while not as insane as they were during Thee Oh Sees set, the crowd certainly were buying what Finberg and Co. were selling.

Tuning a 'tar, taking a swig

I had seen The Intelligence once before, at Part Time Punks in 2009. They made a positive impression then, and it continued forward to seeing them a year later. I quite liked "Block Of Ice" not realizing it was a cover of the group they played after. Or is it the Thee Oh Sees who cover it? No, I was right the first time.

My recording was done with the trusty Sony PCM-M10, which I had set on top of a video poker machine stage left-ish.

Setlist (the entire set was filmed with my iPhone 4, all songs linked):

The Universe / Nice Tries / Debt & ESP / Dating Cops / Thank You God For Fixing The Tape Machine / The World Is A Drag / The World Is Not A Drag / Block Of Ice (Thee Oh Sees) / Like Like Like Like Like Like Like / Black Hole (The Urinals) / The Unessential Cosmic Perspective

2010-11-17

2010 has heralded for me the discovery of one of the best live bands of my generation, right under my nose, as it were. Some have called them one of the best SF underground groups, but I think their appeal is...or should be...more universal than that, even if I can't imagine them making any place else home, even if singer/guitarist John Dwyer started out in Providence, Rhode Island. Over the course of the next few weeks, I'll be featuring many Thee Oh Sees live shows from the AMH archives, but I'm going to first start with the most recent show at Eagles Tavern SF, which functions as literally their home base, as they have played there once about every other month this year.

And on this occasion, they were every bit as full-on intense as the first two times I have seen them...they didn't finish the set with Warm Slime (Summertime Jam) but with the rarely-featured Grease segueing into Grease 2, a special treat for the hometown crowd.

From my out-of-breath notes afterwards: "No video from me, just impossible anyway given that it was absolute bedlam, but there were people filming, etc....JPD was a bit under the weather but that's never stopped him before. By about midway through Contraption...I was pretty much toast...almost out of breath and had to ease back out of the pit...filled up on too much raw fish...blinding set, tomzero and I listened to it on the way home and have it on again now, probably will need some re-EQ to sound good, but is plenty listenable as-is, not bad for built-ins!."

2010-11-15

UPDATE (Monday, April 21st 2014): It is with heavy heart that I learned that guitarist Mike Atta passed away from kidney cancer on Sunday.This post is dedicated to his memory and those who knew him or were touched by his music.
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bcingyou put together the following as an introduction..."We could split the night wide open, see all the secrets there"

- A Skeleton At The Feast by Middle Class from Homeland LP

My passion for music can be traced through the strain of logic that permeates the entire canon of Middle Class. The searing insights from the monotone, unwavering delivery of Jeff Atta's vocals to the 'take notice' intensity of Mike Patton's bass lines and Mike Atta's guitar have picked at the scab of this music lover's soul for 30 years. Never mind the distraction that they were most likely the first hardcore punk band (thanks in part to the wide-eyed consequence of copious amounts of Dr. Pepper), Middle Class spoke from the core of existence and demanded closer scrutiny.

A breakthrough song in the history of American punk is A Blueprint For Joy which decisively cuts through the raw inarticulate aggression of punk's first wave and opens the rusty gate of emotion revealing a darker side of life expressed in the notion that we are all ultimately trapped victims not just of a confusing society but of ourselves.

there's a pattern to sin

there's a blueprint for joy

there are guides to reaction

we seek to employ

see I clipped its wings

to see what it brings

lying to myself

swept under the scene

there's life in these buildings

hidden away from the sun

the whimper in bedrooms

the things we call fun

I kept my distance

offered resistance

I've heard all the reasons

I've counted every one

there's tactical buildup

there's rumours of war

nightspots in L.A.

no effort to ignore

(apologies if incorrectly deciphered as there's no online lyrics to be found for A Blueprint For Joy)

Middle Class possessed that rare quality of being able to tap the frustration that festers beneath the surface and the talent to execute. The few times I saw them in '81-'82 left an indelible mark as from a group of young men who seriously considered their place in the world and reached beyond an audience for satisfaction. Always ahead of the pack.

The recent Frontier 30th Anniversary Party may have been to showcase the more well known factions of punk in The Adolescents, T.S.O.L. and Avengers but for the this heart of darkness I'll always identify with Middle Class as being the real deal.

2010-11-07

One of 2010's so-called "buzz bands", Best Coast has been riding a wave of (mostly-deserved) hype, with Bethany Constantino appearing #4 on NME's coolest-of-2010 or somesuch. The Great American was sold out in advance, and a lot of the concert-goers were younger than the band. I had bought "Crazy For You" a month prior to the show on the strength of unforgettable, catchy songs like "Boyfriend" and "When I'm With You".

The last time Best Coast had appeared at the GAMH, it was to open for Camera Obscura. Sadly, I missed this show, but I did tape them opening for Vivian Girls (see below)...

We were amazed to be treated to no less than 23 songs, which I imagine is probably almost all of their song catalogue presently. We saw Bobb Bruno at the merch desk beforehand (to illustrate how unassuming he is to even man it as a part of the headlining act), but I didn't feel brave enough to approach him for some odd reason, maybe because he's so unassuming, it would feel like imposing.

Anyway, near the end of the set, the kids got rowdy. There was even a stage diver at one point.

One of my favorite shows of 2010 (don't worry, I'll be featuring the headliners Thee Oh Sees and Eddy Current Suppression Ring soon enough), we got a double dose of the talents of the esteemed Mr. Stoltz both as drummer for Sonny And The Sunsets and frontman for his own solo act, backed by a full band, every tune a catchy slice of pop goodness. The applause at the end was heartfelt.

Here's a profile that appeared in the SF Bay Guardian that captures how sweet a guy he is. The stills illustrating this post are vidcaps from ezilu's recording of "Fire Escape", which is well worth watching. Apologies for the chatter during the first couple of songs, the people around me were doing a bit of catching up and weren't giving their full attention towards Mr. Stoltz. Do You Want To Rock n' Roll With Me, in particular, was quite catchy. And you got to like the use of xylophone in a couple of these tracks.

Bonus set:

Kelley Stoltz2010-04-19The FillmoreSan Franciscoopening for Echo and the Bunnymen

This is Kelley Stoltz' opening set for Echo and the Bunnymen. The Bunnymen cake story was worth the price of admission alone. Interesting tidbit, Kelley calls the "A7 and even A9" California chords, and features both quite prominently in "Owl Service". And the Peter Miller cover is neat.

Snaps done from my iPhone 3GS, they're all somewhat blurry. (took some of the headlining Echo and the Bunnymen, as well)And, please folks, if you like what you hear, click here to sample and buy some of his stuff! His latest album (as of this writing) is called To Dreamers, I'm bummed that I missed out on the bonus CD-R...

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